Best value Point / MF

[edh72]

Is there a list anywhere of the best resorts to buy at if you are just looking for points?

I guess I'm basically looking for a list that shows total points / MF to determine which ones are the best value. Has anyone seen anything like this?

 

[timeos2]

Too many variables

Is there a list anywhere of the best resorts to buy at if you are just looking for points?

I guess I'm basically looking for a list that shows total points / MF to determine which ones are the best value. Has anyone seen anything like this?

Each points system would have to have its own list. The list would most likley change each year as fees change. Which system are you interested in? Realize fees are not in any way fixed so things can change overnight.

 

[edh72]

Sorry, RCI.

On the "change overnight" comment... Really? I could buy a resort today @ 50k points, and it could be worth 30k in 6 months? How much does it really vary? What determines it changing?

-Ed

 

[timeos2]

Not the points so much as the fees

Sorry, RCI.

On the "change overnight" comment... Really? I could buy a resort today @ 50k points, and it could be worth 30k in 6 months? How much does it really vary? What determines it changing?

-Ed

While the points assigned can change that is likely to be more predicable and with a warning. The fees are what can change at anytime with drastic results. Either a rise in base annual fees or a special assessment or both.

Basing the purchase of RCI Points strictly on the current fee/point ratio isn't a good move - that should be just one of the factors in deciding on the best value. Look at the point value, the history of fees, the condition of the resort (delayed maintenance may mean big jumps soon) and the control of the BOD (Developer control may be a BIG red flag for future fee increases and/or serious underfunding of reserve needs).

 

[edh72]

So is there such a list? I get that the fees can go up, but this still seems like the best metric to start with before looking close at a resort history?

If nothing else it helps remove 95% (or some large %) of the resorts from the review process, right? Or is there a better way to start the search? Thanks!

 

[Jennie]

I choose an RCI Points package based upon the "underlying" fixed week. I want it to be at a nice resort, one that I would be happy to use each year. Or at least a week that has excellent rental potential. This way if you become dissatisfied with the RCI Points program, you can just drop out of it and revert back to owning the fixed week.

If the week trades through RCI, you can become an RCI Weeks member to do exchages. You can join a different exchange company, along with, or instead of, RCI. Or you can just use your week or rent it and have nothing whatsoever to do with RCI.

RCI has a long history of changing the "rules" and fees, often times without even letting members know. Their fees go up and the service goes down. They rent a lot of weeks to the general public for profit, thus making many prime weeks deposited by members unavailable for exchange. There is a major class action lawsuit going on now accusing RCI of engaging in these practises to the detriment of their dues-paying members.

The less beholden you are to RCI, the better. There's no guarantee of what you will get with RCI Points. But if you own a Points package with an underlying good week, you can walk away from RCI if you don't like the way things are going.

 

[krj9999]

I'm a bit shocked someone just paid $5500 in an Ebay auction of a week 52 Grandview 2BR (122k RCI points with current $641 MF).

Nice to have week 52, but that's a pretty steep price to pay not knowing where either MFs or RCI point values may go in the future.

I choose an RCI Points package based upon the "underlying" fixed week. I want it to be at a nice resort, one that I would be happy to use each year. Or at least a week that has excellent rental potential. This way if you become dissatisfied with the RCI Points program, you can just drop out of it and revert back to owning the fixed week.

If the week trades through RCI, you can become an RCI Weeks member to do exchages. You can join a different exchange company, along with, or instead of, RCI. Or you can just use your week or rent it and have nothing whatsoever to do with RCI.

RCI has a long history of changing the "rules" and fees, often times without even letting members know. Their fees go up and the service goes down. They rent a lot of weeks to the general public for profit, thus making many prime weeks deposited by members unavailable for exchange. There is a major class action lawsuit going on now accusing RCI of engaging in these practises to the detriment of their dues-paying members.

The less beholden you are to RCI, the better. There's no guarantee of what you will get with RCI Points. But if you own a Points package with an underlying good week, you can walk away from RCI if you don't like the way things are going.

 

[theo]

A suggestion...

Is there a list anywhere of the best resorts to buy at if you are just looking for points?

I guess I'm basically looking for a list that shows total points / MF to determine which ones are the best value. Has anyone seen anything like this?

With due respect, you are apparently looking for "a simple list" condensing all of the many and varying details of a complex issue. Good luck with that --- it doesn't exist.

If all you really want is some RCI points and you don't even care about the associated underlying "week", then maybe you should look at a "3 year lease" option for RCI Points, where the maintenance fee is structured directly in line with the associated RCI Points level. It would be both much less cost and much less committment, since you can decline to renew with no further obligation at the end of 3 years.

I'm not in any way associated with (nor advertising for) this particular product. In fact, I decline to even name the seller or the facility in this reply, although you can easily search and find the "3 year leases" ads for yourself in the classifieds on TUG or over on TS4MS.

 

[robertr55]

I'd agree with Theo - there's no simple list because there's no single group/organization in control of the MF's & points. RCI controls how many points are required for exchanges/bookings based on size, season, and location, but each resort mgmt group controls MF's, and points allocated per unit can be determined in several ways...so I don't think anyone can keep track of all of them (nor has incentive to do so...only us resale buyers would care about "comparison shopping" like this.

If you haven't completely made up your mind whether RCI points will work for you, use Theo's suggestion and look up the "3 year lease" option here on TUG. There are cheaper ways to get points, but no better way to have a "taste of points" without a long-term commitment.

If you're absolutely convinced that RCI points is what you want and are simply looking for the "best deal", you could try what I did last year and set up an eBay search for "RCI Points" and then look each auction up every day and record the resort, unit size, week, EY or EOY, MFs and points, and over a few weeks you'll start to see a pattern where you consistently see the higher-cost locations (and just skip over them), and focus on the ones that are the best deals. You can also include the resorts listed here on TUG and other locations...not all of them list MF's, but most do.

Obviously this method can't provide you with a comprehensive list - you'll be missing details about resorts that aren't being sold at the moment, but at least it'll give you a fairly good idea of what to look for and narrow down your search.